Koreas Naval Clash Unlikely To Escalate Tensions

SEOUL - South Korea on Tuesday said the existing inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation will go forward as usual and not be affected by an earlier naval clash with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The government made the remark after an emergency security meeting convened by President Lee Myung-bak, and an Unification Ministry meeting.

The government decided to calmly respond to the naval clash occurred off west coast of the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday morning, and maintain the exchanges and cooperation between the two sides on the current level if there are not any further provocative moves by the DPRK side.

The government is not taking any restrictive measures, such as minimizing the number of visitors to the DPRK and other artificial control measures, into consideration, Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said.

President Lee Myung-bak convened the emergency meeting earlier in the day immediately after receiving the report of the clash.

The meeting, attended by several security-related ministers such as Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, Unification Minister Hyun In-taek and Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, analyzed the DPRK's intention on the clash and whether it was an accidental event, made assess on impact the naval clash will leave on relations between Seoul and Pyongyang, and discussed ways to respond to it, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Sun-kyu.